Detecting chronic kidney disease in diabetic adults by estimating glomerular filtration rate and serum creatinine

Objective To assess chronic kidney disease (CKD) prevalence and risk factors including socio-demography among diabetics by estimating glomerular filtration rate (GFR) rather than serum creatinine (sCr). Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in December 15, 2019 through August 15, 2020, among 800 diabetics attending tertiary diabetes centers, Baghdad. Data were collected by self-administered questionnaire. SPSS was used for data analysis by (mean, standard deviation and t-test) for quantitative variables and (frequency, percentage, Chi-square test and Kappa index) for qualitative variables. p-Value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results 800 diabetics for last 5-40 years, 95.6% with type 2. Aged 52.1 +/- 13.2 years, with malefemale ratio of 1.03:1, 63.6% were with no income, sCr level was 0.86 +/- 03 mg/dl, and eGFR by Cockcroft Gault (CG) and CKD-EPI equations was 100.4 +/- 36.5 & 922 +/- 25.5 ml/min/1.73 m(2), respectively. CKD prevalence based on sCr, and eGFR assessed by above equations was 13.3%, 20% and 15.9%, respectively (p<0.001).Those with CKD were hypertensive, females, and living in peripheries. Conclusions Diabetic patients, mainly those with risk factors are more likely in develop CKD. It is better to detect CKD initially by estimating the GFR, rather than sCr level alone. Furthermore, using CKD-EPI equation might be better than the CG formula to estimate the GFR.